HELP???

[cougargirl50]

Ok I got a 20 gallon tank. I have 6 zebra danios and 5 platys in it right now. A friend of mine was getting ready to get rid of his tank and needed someone to take his fish or he was going to flush them. So me getting really into the fish thing, told him that I would take them.
I knew I would probably be overstocked but didnt want to see the fishy's die. So I took them, and put a algea eater (i dont even know what kind it was) 2 tetras and a platy. I was going to do that till I got my other tank up and running.
Well I decided that I didn't want the algea eater, and the 2 tetras so I took them back out today. I only put them in last night, and took them out this morning. I always do a water change on sundays, so I did my normal water change tonight and I found that my levels have gone up a little.
My
PH 7.2
Ammonia .50
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5.0

I have never had my nitrates to 0 yet since I had my tank and thats been over 2 months now almost going on 3. But I did have my ammonia at 0. Did my ammonia levels go up because I added the other fish? Oh yeah and I took notice that when I took the fish my friends water had a green tint to it because he didn't have the filter running, or the heater. I know that isn't a good sign.

Can someone help me??

 

[Orion]

Normaly so long as the NitrAtes stay under 20ppm, tis nothing to worry about. Most tanks will have a little bit. For the ammonia, anytime you add new fish your tank goes though a mini-cycle as the bacteria plays catch-up with the new amount of waste thats introduced into the system. So .5 isnt much, but you may want to keep an extra eye on it for the next few weeks and if it raises much more, do a water change to get it back down.

I understand why you took the fish in the first place, but anyfish that had been in an environment as what you described should not be put directly into you tank for fear of passing on disease to your fish. Keep an extra eye on the tank to make sure that the new fish are adjusting OK, and your other fish are staying healthy.

 

[cougargirl50]

Thanks for the info. I took the new fish back out a day after I put them in, except for one. With having only a 20 gallon tank the fish looked humongous in there, and they just didn't look right with my little danios and platys. So I gave them to my sister in law and she put them in her 29 gallon tank.
I just wanted to save them. He was going to flush them. So now im back to the orginal amount of fish that I had plus one. I couldnt give up the platy. But I will keep an eye on my tank. Don't want to screw it up. *twirlysmi

So I have
6 zebra danios
6 platys